Devizes volunteers who restored a sunken boat to help keep the Kennet and Avon Canal spruced up have been nominated for a national award.

The Avon Vale Group of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust has reached the final of the Waterways Renaiss-ance Awards and hears on May 23 if it has won the award for volunteer groups.

The group – John Kirby, John Peters, Adrian Softley and Rod Hannah, all from the Devizes area – joined up five years ago as a volunteer work squad to clear the canal’s banks of excess vegetation.

Mr Kirby said: “We realised that, to manage the bank opposite the towpath, we would need a boat. I knew of a boat belonging to British Waterways, the only problem was it was half-submerged on the Bath lock flight.”

British Waterways gave permission for the group to raise the hulk and transport it back to Devizes, where the engine, which had seized up, was removed and renovated and the boat was repainted in its original British Waterways Board colours.

Mr Kirby said: “We had a five-year contract with Brit-ish Waterways to repair the boat but we completed it two years ahead of schedule. We had a lot of help from generous local companies.”

Once the renovation was complete, the group was able to continue its maintenance of the waterway through Devizes. But British Water-ways found they had willing hands to carry out other tasks for them.

Mr Kirby said: “BW has a lot of other boats and sometimes they are far away from where they are needed.

“If BW staff were to move the boats, it would take up a lot of their time – it could take two or three days – so we are asked to move the boats for them.

“Needless to say, we are absolutely delighted to have been nominated. We have already been through two inspections so we are through to the final.”